June 23, 2015 – Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by StepTuesday, June 23, 2015” …(W)e deal with alcohol – cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power – that One is God. May you find Him now.‘Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.” – Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 5 (“How It Works”), pp 58-9.

Today …“with complete abandon.” If I stand “at the turning point,” I am be there because the ideas, methods, ploys and “half measures” I used to control or stop my drinking didn’t work. And because I haven’t come up with a better idea, what is there to lose by surrendering “with complete abandon,” surrendering to the First Step, that “(I am) powerless” and to a power greater and stronger than alcohol – and stronger than myself? Moving in the Program “with complete abandon” is no “easier, softer way,” certainly. But holding onto what I have tried and has failed is guaranteed to make my way progressively harder, maybe eventually fatal. Today, I surrender “with complete abandon.” And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2015